Hard, Medium, and Soft: New rubber rule stops qualifying excuses

class=”sc-29f61514-0 fQbOYE”>

Wednesday 35 degrees in the shade. But the predictions for the 11th World Cup round are mixed. Very often the glowing furnace is cooled by pouring from above.

Soft tires only in the final

The new rule: For the three qualifying parts there is always a separate mix and two new sets of it in Budapest. Weiss (Hart) in the first part over 18 minutes in which five drivers have to say goodbye. Medium (yellow) for the second part in 15 minutes when another five pilots retire.

And for the top ten final (12 minutes) only the red rubber, ie the softest compound, may be used. So now no one can slip away from the Time Chase with excuses and bad luck.

McLaren top, Ferrari flop?

However, the favorites for best starting position and victory on Sunday remain the same: Max Verstappen (25, 43 GP wins), Lewis Hamilton (38, eight Budapest wins and 11 podiums), Fernando Alonso (41, 32 GP wins) if Aston-Martin-Mercedes has overcome the slight weakness in form.

The hottest team of the hour: McLaren-Mercedes, in which all the upgrades in Silverstone succeeded (2nd Norris, 4th Piastri). While Ferrari hit rock bottom in England (just three points and 21 races without a win). Nevertheless, boss Frédéric Vasseur (55) continues: “The direction is right!”

The police are also armed

Interesting that Red Bull Honda shows up here with an upgrade. Verstappen: “When the new parts arrive, we will have a little more air at the front.”

Another win for the Bulls would be the 12th in a row – and McLaren-Honda would have lost the 1988 record to Ayrton Senna (†34) and Alain Prost (68).

Ricciardo under high pressure

So far, 34 modifications in 2023 have come to nothing for the sister team and World Cup taillight Alpha-Tauri-Honda! Whether the driver change in the team with only two championship points is the solution?

If Daniel Ricciardo (34) does not clearly beat teammate Yuki Tsunoda (23, super fast but mentally very weak) on the tight Mickey Mouse course in Hungary, he can probably already forget his big dreams for the future (successor to Sergio Pérez, 33).

Source : Blick